BOB EJIKE
Nllywood patriarch Bob Ejike is coming out with a new album entitled Legend. Two years ago he was honoured with the prestigious Legend of the Art award in Italy, and last December he won the World Music Fiesta in Dubai, little wonder his choice of title. But Ejike says that Legend is just the name of a love song in the collection. He is bringing a merger of the older music traditions where he is rooted and the new and youthful Naija beat as orchestrated by twenty-two year old whiz producer Erons B, with the help of many young singers and rappers, and they promise to bring new meaning to Nigerian music with songs with contemporary beats and meaningful lyrics for a change. What the industry desperately needs now.
Legend contains potential hits like Agbalumo, Cry, Dangote, Darijimi, Funke, Give Me, I love You, Let’s Stay Together, Working Night and Day, Naija Winner, Nakupenda, Sweet Sensation, UBD1, We De Go, Yaga Yaga etc. Recording took two years at Bob Ejike Studio Lagos and though this experiment has registered many casualties, there is no reason to doubt that the man who started the most productive English language film industry in the world can transfer his feat in movies to music. Bob Ejike is a tenacious diehard, undeterred by his middle age, which he sees as evidence of experience and an advantage rather than disadvantage. This artistic technocrat is packed with multiple creative talents, inspiration and enthusiasm, waiting to explode and start another artistic revolution. No one who knows his antecedence would doubt this. Bob Ejike was born in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria, with multiple artistic talents that include narration, literary and musical abilities. He joined masquerade societies and distinguished as a drummer, percussionist and singer.
He attended Government College Umuahia and by his second year of college, was writing for Drum magazine and Daily Star newspaper, haring the short story page of Drum with Ben Okri. He soon began to write for daily star newspaper in his new town of Enugu, writing poetry and radio drama and became distinguished in this popular tradition. He was the youngest columnist and theatre director in Nigeria.
In the next few years Bob Ejike became popular with his poetry and radio drama and the theatre he was directing in Enugu. He started writing television drama scripts and taking singing lessons from his friend the Wonder Boy Kris Okotie, (Now a Pentecostal reverend and presidential candidate). . Okotie taught him how to convert his poems to music. Thereafter Ejike performed with other artistes like Jake Solo, Oritz Wiliki, Jide Obi, Loverboy Felix Liberty, Tina Onwudiwe, to mention but a few.
In 1980 he gained admission to University of Port Harcourt to study theatre arts. in Uniport he came under the influence of great literary minds like Kay Williamson, Ola Rotimi, Gabriel Okara, Elechi Amadi, I.N.C. Aniebo, Chidi Amuta, and performed with celebrated artistes like Daniel Wilson, Dizzy K Falola, Sweat, Mandy Brown. In 1982 his film Echoes of Wrath, starring Richard Mofe-Damijo was released. It won the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) and became the first known Nigerian commercial film in home video format, launching the unprecedented Nigerian video-film renaissance aka Nollywood. In the following years Bob Ejike was involved in a number of other commercial film projects that ultimately opened up the market for the home video tradition.
Bob Ejike graduated in 1985 and participated in the National Youth Service Corp as a language teacher in the Federal Government Girls College, Shagamu in Ogun State. In this period he recorded and released his first music album No Vacancy, which championed the cause of the teeming unemployed. At the end of his service year he joined Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Basi and Co as an actor and scriptwriter. Within this period he engaged in artistic exhibitions sponsored by the British Council, Alliance Françoise, and Goethe Institute.
In 1987, he went for a musical concert in Italy and thereafter joined an Italian reggae band, Iree, and remained in Italy and went into graduate school at Universita Popolare of Rome which he combined with teaching English Language at Oxford College, and later at the polytechnic of Milan.
in 1988 Ejike for further studies where he combined graduate school in Universita Popolare of Rome with teaching English Language at Oxford College, and The Polytechnic of Milan. He also worked as translator for Italian publishers and newspapers, and anchored columns in several publications and online news websites. He became popular for his annual exhibition of Nigerian arts and culture in Milan, and his numerous public lectures in various European cities that helped advertise Nollywood into an international brand.
Ejike released his second album Checkin’ Out, and in collaboration with some of his academic colleagues, launched a huge campaign to further publicize Nigerian arts and culture globally. In 1990, he was chosen to officially present the Italian version of Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savanna to the city of Milan, in a crowded ceremony. Ejike also worked as an editor for Del Lavoro publishers, which published African authors, and translated books from English to Italian and vice versa.
In 1995 Bob Ejike was appointed Special Assistant to His Excellency, Dr. Giovanni Germano, the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria. He returned to assume duty in Lagos, and one year into the mainly public relations job, the Italian Embassy became a recognized force in the Nigerian diplomatic community. In his spare time he also worked as a columnist for The Sun and The Post Express newspapers, and presented Tropical Rhythms, an NTA (Nigerian Television Authority), Channel 5, Lagos cultural programme. Ejike was the first Nigerian male super model.
He published his books The Ambassador, and Weapons of Biafra and starred in 40 popular Nigerian films, within this period and produced and released several music albums. His movies include Sharon Stone 2 with Genevieve Nnaji, Maximum Risks with Regina Askia, Confusion with Kanayo o Kanayo, Deadly Proposal with Pete Edochie, Polygamy with Peter Bunor snr, Tears in Heaven with Susan Patrick, Nightfall with Charles Okafor, Executive Crime with Bimbo Manuel, Aba Riot with Olu Jacob, Wanted Alive with St. Obi, Next of Kin with Jide Kosoko, and several others.
In 2002, Bob Ejike was appointed Associate Professor of English as a Foreign Language at Universita Popolare di Roma, so he returned to Italy where he also worked as a translator for the Italian presidency and International Correspondent for The Sun. In 2005, the Government of Abia State, (Bob Ejike’s place of birth) brought him back from Rome to Umuahia, honoured him and officially recognized his artistic and intellectual efforts towards the international promotion of Nigerian arts and culture. He thereafter assisted in the presidential bid of the then Abia State governor, The Honourable Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu.
In 2006 he was invited to Uganda to work on the Ugawood Project, a Ugandan Government programme aimed at creating indigenous motion picture industry in the East African country. He spent the next six years working on the project. He also opened the Professor Bob Ejike Foundation for Performing Arts (probe) which runs audiovisual studios and marketing outfits to assist indigent artists. He used his position in that country to build a cultural bridge that
facilitated the arrival in East Africa of Nigerian products and performers, helping to make Nollywood the most popular font of home entertainment in East Africa. . In 6 years of Uganda, Ejike’s music flowered. He recorded about 70 songs and 20 music videos that dominated the top ten and awards in the entire region, making Bob Ejike one of the most popular stars in East Africa. The ordinary people called him Ki Nigeria, meaning Nigerian film.
Bob Ejike presently resides in Dubai. He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of the National Edifice magazine and a director of Free Energy Resources Nigeria Limited.
...By Mary Ajayi
